Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Radio Ray - 14th Dec

Sunday the 14th December was another big milestone in my media career as I was being interviewed on local radio. It was so important that I did not even drink (that much) the night before. I was so afraid that nobody would understand a word I said or even worse that I would swear on Air.

The show I was on is a monthly eco tourism show co hosted by Prue from the Conservation Volunteers. She had roped me into telling all about my Shark Cage Diving exploits as well as my time in Australia with emphasis on my time in Tasmania.

I was not due to be on until 4pm that afternoon and I had to make my way out to Box Hill - a suburb of Melbourne. There was a tram that went directly there from Victoria Parade - close by Collingwood backpackers so I relaxed for most of the day in the knowledge that I could get out there with plenty of time to spare.

Unfortunately - you know there are too many sentences in this blog which start with that word! As I said unfortunately I had never used this tram before but I was sure it was down at the end of Johnston Street. So at about 2:30 I started walking down Johnston Street and then on past Hoddle street until I came to Victoria PARK TRAIN station! I started to panic but stupidly continued on down Johnston street under the mistaken assumption that if Victoria Park is here then Victoria Parade would not be far away. After another 5 minutes walking I realised what a fool I had been - I should have looked at a map first - just too darn sure of myself!.

A quick look at a map on a bus stop nearby and a call to Fergus back at the backpackers confirmed that I should have gone along Hoddle street not across it to get to Victoria Parade. The next 10 minutes consisted of sprints followed by severe wheezing sessions until I finally reached Victoria Parade. Luckily - another word used to start a lot of sentences in this blog! Luckily a tram arrived straight away and I was soon on my way to Box Hill. I actually arrived with time to spare so did a walk around the area until I was ready to go in.

I was lead in to a side room where I could hear the radio show as it was being broadcast. They were interviewing another guy, Dave who was talking about his exploits in Nepal. It was still 10 minutes to 4 when I heard them say 'We'll be right back after this song to talk to an Irish Guy Ray about his shark cage diving'. The butterflies in my stomach suddenly metamorphosed into giant hummingbird moths - I was supposed to still have 10 minutes to compose myself!

I was lead into the small studio and sat down beside Dave who thankfully was staying for the rest of the show. I took out DM and Taz and placed them on the desk beside me. I could do with all the moral support I could get now. I was giving a large set of headphones to put on and then it was time.

Prue introduced me and I said a rather quiet hello then she asked me to explain about my reasons for travelling. I talked about my midlife crisis and how I gave up my job to go travelling then noticed Viarnne, Prue's co host motioning me to stop nervously tapping the table while I talked. She also gradually turned up my microphone volume as I was obviously talking too softly (ME talking too softly!).

I was asked a series of questions about my shark diving and surprisingly did ok with answering them - I didn't even swear. We talked about the diving itself and then about Marine Dynamics and the environmental work they did including helping the penguins and the shark identification. They then played some music which Prue had selected which turned out to be a local Irish music group. It was very diddly dee but it calmed me down as we chatted about how it had gone so far.

Then it was back to the interview to talk about Tasmania and more shark stuff including DM's dice with death before they ended off the interview. I stayed on as they went back to Dave to talk about Christmas Island but I don't think I made much of a contribution to the chat. I seem to recall saying Crabs at one point but it was totally within the context of the chat - honest!

Afterwards we talked about the show and I was assured that I had done ok.

When I got back to the hostel my friend Katy - the only person who had listened to the interview online also reassured me that it was good and that she could make out everything I said.

I said good then went to get a six pack!

I am still waiting for them to create a down loadable version of the show - I will let you know when it is available. Prue has listened to the show and says the only mistake I made was saying South Africa rather than South America for my onward travel. I can live with that.

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